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Kasey Howe & Mark Peikert

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Shocking! Lurid! Tawdry! A History of American Scandals
Shocking! Lurid! Tawdry! A History of American ScandalsThat Time the Falwells Met Their Match in a Pool BoyThere's just something about seeing hypocrites fully exposed that is so satisfying, particularly when the takedown is as juicy and salacious and, yes, tawdry as that of Jerry Falwell Jr. You no doubt remember the Pool Boy Scandal of 2020, which began as a rumor that evangelical Christian and President of Liberty University Falwell was having an affair with a younger man named Giancarlo Granda... before Falwell released a statement saying that his wife, Becki, had the affair. And then Granda gave an explosive tell-all interview in which he recounted Falwell's participation in that affair. Now, Hulu documentary...
2022-11-0836 minShocking! Lurid! Tawdry! A History of American Scandals
Shocking! Lurid! Tawdry! A History of American ScandalsThat Time the CIA Got Very Into LSDIt's an unintentional double-header of acid heads, as Kasey follows up Mark's episode about Unmask Alice with a deep dive into an aside from the book about the CIA's Operation Midnight Climax. Yes, it sounds like some horny high school boys started a band, and no, it's not actually that much different from that. Turns out, the CIA was so adamant that no Americans could possibly have committed war crimes or found Communism interesting that the only solution to veterans saying these things is... brainwashing. If the Russians could, so could we! Except... well, things get very weird very...
2022-10-1855 minShocking! Lurid! Tawdry! A History of American Scandals
Shocking! Lurid! Tawdry! A History of American ScandalsThat Time Beatrice Sparks Published 'Go Ask Alice' and 'Jay's Journal'Mark went to Vegas and came back brimming over with awe at Rick Emerson's book "Unmask Alice: LSD, Satanic Panic, and the Imposter Behind the World's Most Notorious Diaries." Do you know the book "Go Ask Alice"? Probably. You're likely less familiar with "Jay's Journal." Both books—billed as actual diaries from actual teenagers—came from the same woman, and Emerson presents a pretty damning case for the havoc her ambitions wreaked on the survivors of familial tragedy and, yes, America as a whole. What happens to Beatrice Sparks' dream of authorial stardom deferred? Nothing less than a de...
2022-10-1142 minShocking! Lurid! Tawdry! A History of American Scandals
Shocking! Lurid! Tawdry! A History of American ScandalsThat Time John Edwards Tried to be a YouTube StarIn 2006, the frontrunner for the Democratic presidential nominee was... John Edwards? He'd unsuccessfully campaigned as VP for John Kerry in 2003, so he was a known quantity (unlike that Barack Obama guy). But in an arena that is rife with unforced errors, Edwards made perhaps the biggest, most outrageous string of them — all while his wife, Elizabeth, was dying of terminal cancer. Not a great look, even as Edwards vied for relevancy by getting in on that new website YouTube, with the help of one Rielle Hunter (née Lisa Jo Druck). A few National Enquirer headlines, one incredibly loyal, lyi...
2022-10-0439 minShocking! Lurid! Tawdry! A History of American Scandals
Shocking! Lurid! Tawdry! A History of American ScandalsThat Time Barbara Hershey Went on The Dick Cavett ShowSome things never change. Well, not Barbara Hershey's name. Born Barbara Lynn Herzstein, Hershey changed her professional name to Barbara Seagull for a period of time in the early 1970s. Much against the advice of literally everyone. She appeared on The Dick Cavett Show to discuss the reasons behind the change (buckle up) and ended up breastfeeding her son during the broadcast. Since this was 1975, you can imagine the hysteria. This week, Mark walks Kasey through the madness of early '70s Hollywood, the perils of being "kooky," and a whole lot of spoilers for decades-old films. Plus, casual...
2022-09-2743 minShocking! Lurid! Tawdry! A History of American Scandals
Shocking! Lurid! Tawdry! A History of American ScandalsThat Time Alexander Hamilton Invented the Treasury and Political Sex ScandalsBefore the musical, before the Got Milk? commercial brought him back into relevancy, Alexander Hamilton was one of the more combative founding fathers. The most scandal-plagued founding father? That is TBD. But today, Kasey explains how Hamilton ended up in an extramarital affair, then blackmailed, then welcomed into cuckolding and then published an entire pamphlet years after the fact about what went down. Did that kill his chances at higher office? And why exactly was Aaron Burr in everyone's lives? Grab your powdered wig and travel back in time to the invention of the political sex scandal. ...
2022-09-2028 minShocking! Lurid! Tawdry! A History of American Scandals
Shocking! Lurid! Tawdry! A History of American ScandalsThat Time Janet Cooke Won a PulitzerBefore Stephen Glass and Jayson Blair, there was Janet Cooke. A reporter at The Washington Post, her byline appeared on a story headlined "Jimmy's World" about an 8-year-old heroin addict... who didn't exist. But before anyone found that out, "Jimmy's World" became a national sensation and made Cooke the first Black female Pulitzer Prize winner—an award she returned almost immediately upon winning. But there's a lot more to Janet Cooke's story than just blind ambition. Mark unpacks the OG newspaper scandal for Kasey, along with a quick rave about Margaret Sullivan's incredible memoir Newsroom Confidential, coming out October 18....
2022-09-1336 minShocking! Lurid! Tawdry! A History of American Scandals
Shocking! Lurid! Tawdry! A History of American ScandalsThat Time Sumner Welles Called for a Pullman PorterSumner Welles was a career politician whose career was always being interrupted by personal biases. First Calvin Coolidge kicked me out because he married a friend of the Coolidges. Then FDR had to speak with him because his direct manager was shit-talking Welles and a boozy night on a train that involved propositioning a Pullman porter.  Kasey walks Mark through the tangled web of political rivalries that led to Welles resigning in the middle of World War II and reminds us all that no one is as bitchy as a mediocre white man. Logo: Jessica B...
2022-09-0638 minShocking! Lurid! Tawdry! A History of American Scandals
Shocking! Lurid! Tawdry! A History of American ScandalsThat Time Alexander Hamilton's Great-Grandson Was Front-Page News for YearsThe whole thing began for Bill Shaffer with a fountain. Granted, the fountain is one of the few remaining examples of its kind in Manhattan and was designed by the team behind Grand Central Station. But who knew that reading a plaque one night would lead to the discovery of a half-forgotten scandal involving Alexander Hamilton's great-grandson, a sex worker, a murder, and two years of lurid headlines? That's the story that Shaffer told in his recent book The Scandalous Hamiltons: A Gilded Age Grifter, a Founding Father's Disgraced Descendant, and a Trial at the...
2022-08-3022 minShocking! Lurid! Tawdry! A History of American Scandals
Shocking! Lurid! Tawdry! A History of American ScandalsThat Time They Called the Cavalry on WWI VetsThe American veterans of the Great War just wanted that bonus the United States had promised them a little bit early. Guaranteed to pay out in 1945, a little thing called the Great Depression had them all impatient to cash it in 12 years early—so the Bonus Army traveled to Washington, D.C., to make their case. Herbert Hoover had quite enough of Hoovervilles, however, and somewhere along the way, Douglas MacArthur swooped in with the U.S. Cavalry and a tank or four to clear out the marchers' campsite. The U.S. was unprepared to care for its veterans? Ho...
2022-08-2339 minShocking! Lurid! Tawdry! A History of American Scandals
Shocking! Lurid! Tawdry! A History of American ScandalsThat Time Zsa Zsa Gabor Slapped a CopIt was the slap heard around the world. No, not the Oscars 2022. We're talking Los Angeles 1989 when Zsa Zsa Gabor was pulled over for expired plates and ended up embroiled in a three-week trial that made Depp v Heard look boring. How did the Hungarian personality wind up in an El Segundo jail doing clerical work? Why was the nation so transfixed by the story of a woman slapping a police officer? And why didn't we ever get the Zsa Zsa memoir written from her dog's point of view? Mark asks all of these questions and only...
2022-08-1928 minShocking! Lurid! Tawdry! A History of American Scandals
Shocking! Lurid! Tawdry! A History of American ScandalsThat Time Designing Women Invented DramaDesigning Women was hardly the first show to feature clashes between performers and producers (go read about All in the Family some time). But the very public war between creator Linda Bloodworth-Thomason and breakout star Delta Burke included Emmy nominations, fat shaming, and a secret Barbara Walters special that no one involved with Designing Women knew Delta had filmed until it aired. Dixie Carter got dragged into the fray along the way, while Annie Potts and Jean Smart wisely stayed out of it. Join us as Mark walks Kasey through the history of Designing Women, why Nacogdoches...
2022-08-1640 minShocking! Lurid! Tawdry! A History of American Scandals
Shocking! Lurid! Tawdry! A History of American ScandalsThat Time Martha Mitchell Opened Her MouthWe're living in a golden age of Martha Mitchell content, and we couldn't be more delighted. Fresh off the success of Starz's limited series Gaslit, Kasey walks Mark through the life and scandals of our favorite Watergate whistleblower, who was discredited as a drunken grotesque by the Nixon administration as she tried to tell everyone who would listen that Nixon and CREEP were involved in the Watergate break-in.  From her appearance on Laugh-In (where Lily Tomlin shunned her) to her imprisonment in a California hotel room by bodyguards to the chrysanthemum arrangement anonymously sent to h...
2022-08-0937 minShocking! Lurid! Tawdry! A History of American Scandals
Shocking! Lurid! Tawdry! A History of American ScandalsThat Time We Took a Sümmer HolidayNot to fear—neither Kasey nor Mark have encountered a career-ruining scandal or a stint in the pokey. (Yet. Everything is always a yet.) What they are doing is taking sümmer off from researching and recording! So, as Judy Garland told her audience at Carnegie Hall, "You can have an intermission. And you can smoke or drink or whatever you do at intermission, and I can't wait to see you again because you're divine." We can't wait to be back in your ears this August! Logo: Jessica Balaschak Music: Caveman of Los Ang...
2022-07-1201 minShocking! Lurid! Tawdry! A History of American Scandals
Shocking! Lurid! Tawdry! A History of American ScandalsThat Time John G. Schmitz Begat a Sex Scandal and a Surprisingly Scandalous ChildPolitical sex scandals are a dime a dozen—although certainly, uber-conservative John G. Schmitz's sex scandal (involving a secret second family) is one of the more tawdry ones. So conservative that even the John Birch Society told him, "Nah, dude, you're too intense," Schmitz's wife was known as the "West Coast Phyllis Schlafly." Their political careers were effectively ended when his secret family was revealed—but that's not the end of the story! Tune in as Kasey walks Mark through what happened and the shocking twist that sees one of the most scandalous tabloid stories of the '90s...
2022-06-2121 minShocking! Lurid! Tawdry! A History of American Scandals
Shocking! Lurid! Tawdry! A History of American ScandalsThat Time Helen Keller Was Accused of PlagiarismOver the last decade, Helen Keller went from a saint to a hoax—which means the real woman has long been lost under the hagiography and now the TikTok deniers. Among other things: Helen Keller was a devoted socialist who starred in a silent movie about her life and had her eyes replaced with glass ones. But the most telling scandal involving Helen and her teacher, Annie Sullivan, is one that happened when she was 12 years old and newly famous. The story spiraled quickly out of control, becoming national news and resulting in Helen facing a hostile tr...
2022-06-1423 minShocking! Lurid! Tawdry! A History of American Scandals
Shocking! Lurid! Tawdry! A History of American ScandalsThat Time History Teachers Loved The XYZ Affair So MuchOdds are you learned about The XYZ Affair during high school history class (even mark did, and most of his high school education came courtesy of movies screened during class). But in retrospect, the whole scandal of John Adams' presidency feels underwhelming compared to our everyday political scandals now. That is, until 2017, when the fallout of The XYZ Affair finally exploded in a national controversy.  Let Kasey walk you through what happened, why it wouldn't have seemed like that big of a deal, and why now John Adams' administration led to the first major scandal of Trump's p...
2022-05-2435 minShocking! Lurid! Tawdry! A History of American Scandals
Shocking! Lurid! Tawdry! A History of American ScandalsThat Time WeCrashed, The Dropout, and Super Pumped All Premiered Within Weeks of One Another"Bring me a unicorn!" was the rallying cry for VC funders in Silicon Valley during its glory days, and apparently the demand from network execs looking for new content. Because over the course of a single month, we were treated to Hulu's The Dropout, Apple TV+'s WeCrashed, and Showtime's Super Pumped.  All three are based on real-life disruptors that promised to revolutionize medicine, real estate, and taxis. All three failed to varying degrees. But we already know those scandals: Kasey and Mark want to talk about the accent and voice work that these series boast at t...
2022-05-1736 minShocking! Lurid! Tawdry! A History of American Scandals
Shocking! Lurid! Tawdry! A History of American ScandalsThat Time The Way Down Came Back for More Gwen Shamblin StoriesAt last! After premiering three episodes of investigative documentary series The Way Down on HBO Max last year, the exposé of the Remnant Fellowship and its founder, Gwen Shamblin, returns for a two-part update. Has it gained anything in the aftermath of the series' revelations? Did we need another two episodes about the church and the ways in which it preyed on the vulnerable? Probably not! But then, we also didn't really need Netflix's 4-episode Bad Vegan or Hulu's 3-episode Captive Audience (to varying degrees). But Kasey and Mark watched all three series, and they have some Thoughts about t...
2022-05-1038 minShocking! Lurid! Tawdry! A History of American Scandals
Shocking! Lurid! Tawdry! A History of American ScandalsThat Time Sean Young Just Wanted to Audition for CatwomanSean Young looked poised to be a star in the 1980s. She appeared in Stripes, she was the love interest in Blade Runner—instantly achieving icon status—and she was great in thriller No Way Out. Then she got cast as Vicki Vale in Batman. That should have brought her career to the next level. Instead, it was the beginning of the end.   Years of addressing bad behavior and refusing to flatter male egos had set the stage for Sean Young to be made a Hollywood pariah. And the match that set off that fuse? He refusal to ac...
2022-05-0338 minShocking! Lurid! Tawdry! A History of American Scandals
Shocking! Lurid! Tawdry! A History of American ScandalsThat Time Ohio Had a Surprising Number of Political ScandalsWhy oh why oh why oh... does Ohio have so many political scandals?   From bad behavior to a mistress opening up about an affair with her politico boss after not being invited to his wedding, the Buckeye state has played host to a surprising number of political bad behavior. Kasey Howe walks us through some of the highlights among the lowlights. Logo: Jessica Balaschak Music: Caveman of Los Angeles by Party Store Music YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCUI6fTwkYm8UEv4sLaC9ytw --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.s...
2022-04-2630 minShocking! Lurid! Tawdry! A History of American Scandals
Shocking! Lurid! Tawdry! A History of American ScandalsThat Time Reese Witherspoon Asked If a Cop Knew Her NameIn early 2013, Reese Witherspoon seemed destined for Meg Ryan’s later career. Both hit it big as smart, sometimes daffy romcom blondes with more going on than initially appeared. But after winning an Oscar for Walk the Line, Reese’s movies… hadn’t exactly popped.    Then something happened. On April 19, 2013, Reese was in the car with her husband, talent agent James Toth, when he was pulled over under suspicion of driving while intoxicated after swerving into the wrong lane. But it was Reese who got arrested for disorderly conduct.   They were in Atlanta while Reese filmed The...
2022-04-1926 minShocking! Lurid! Tawdry! A History of American Scandals
Shocking! Lurid! Tawdry! A History of American ScandalsThat Time the L.A. Water Wars Inspired ChinatownLos Angeles is an oasis in the desert—but it's also a mirage. Because life shouldn't be sustainable to the extent that it is, and it wouldn't be if a few enterprising old dudes hadn't decided to divert water from the Valley to help L.A. prosper. What's the harm? Those farmers don't need that water, right?   If you've ever seen Chinatown, then you know there's a lot of harm going on. Kasey walks us through the chicanery and trickery used to drain a few lakes over the years, all to keep the L.A. millionaires and mov...
2022-04-1247 minShocking! Lurid! Tawdry! A History of American Scandals
Shocking! Lurid! Tawdry! A History of American ScandalsThat Time Julia Roberts and Kiefer Sutherland Didn't Get MarriedJulia Roberts was a freshly minted, Oscar-nominated movie star when she and Kiefer Sutherland (semi Hollywood royalty) announced their wedding, to be held on the Fox studio lot. That should have been an early sign of things to come. As should Kiefer's desire to have a full Thanksgiving dinner served at their June wedding (he really likes Thanksgiving, OK?). Then, days before the wedding, Julia called the whole thing off and flew to Ireland on what would have been her wedding day with Jason Patric—a close friend of Kiefer's who, perhaps not coincidentally, was disinvited from the wedding sh...
2022-04-0542 minShocking! Lurid! Tawdry! A History of American Scandals
Shocking! Lurid! Tawdry! A History of American ScandalsThat Time Daniel Sickles Invented the Temporary Insanity DefenseEverything has to start somewhere, right? And it was Dan Sickles who first claimed temporary insanity as a defense for murder.   Of course, he was Congressman at the time he shot and killed his wife's lover, Philip Barton Key II, in broad daylight in Manhattan's Lafayette Square. And of course he was celebrated as a hero for "saving" women from such a rogue.  But that's hardly the only scandal that attached itself to Sickles' name. Tune in as Kasey walks us through his messy career, from public murder (and acquittal!) to the Battle of Gettysburg to...
2022-03-2941 minShocking! Lurid! Tawdry! A History of American Scandals
Shocking! Lurid! Tawdry! A History of American ScandalsThat Time Hollywood Destroyed Clara BowLogo: Jessica Balaschak Music: Caveman of Los Angeles by Party Store Music --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/american-scandals/support
2022-03-2241 minShocking! Lurid! Tawdry! A History of American Scandals
Shocking! Lurid! Tawdry! A History of American ScandalsThat Time Things Went Real Bad in WacoA cult versus FBI armored vehicles—what could go wrong?  Was David Koresh crazy? Not our topic today! Was the government overarmed and underprepared? Now, that we can dig into. In this week's episode, Kasey Howe looks at bad people on both sides, and the decisions that led to the live televised disaster that was Waco. Logo: Jessica Balaschak Music: Caveman of Los Angeles by Party Store Music --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/american-scandals/support
2022-03-1550 minShocking! Lurid! Tawdry! A History of American Scandals
Shocking! Lurid! Tawdry! A History of American ScandalsThat Time Gay Drama Cruising Filmed in NYC and People Freaked the F OutLogo: Jessica Balaschak Music: Caveman of Los Angeles by Party Store Music --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/american-scandals/support
2022-03-0850 minShocking! Lurid! Tawdry! A History of American Scandals
Shocking! Lurid! Tawdry! A History of American ScandalsThat Time a Lot of Women Got Caught Up in Political ScandalsTurns out, women involved in political scandals is a pretty tough Google—mostly because very few of them were scandalous on their own. Nevertheless, in honor of Women's History Month Kasey Howe offers a pu pu platter of women behaving badly, whether they intended to or not. From Iran-Contra to extramarital affairs, here are the women breaking bad in government. And no, this isn't the Nancy Reagan episode. Mark is as disappointed as you are. Logo: Jessica Balaschak Music: Caveman of Los Angeles by Party Store Music --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.co...
2022-03-0124 minShocking! Lurid! Tawdry! A History of American Scandals
Shocking! Lurid! Tawdry! A History of American ScandalsThat Time Roxanne Pulitzer Got Divorced“The Strumpet with the Trumpet.” “Nympho Dyke.” “Cocaine Slut.” “Black-Magic Voodoo Queen.”   Somehow, a former cheerleader from upstate New York got branded all of those things by the national media when her wealthy older husband decided to divorce her after six years of marriage. They were not famous (well, sorta). But their marriage coincided with the last gasp of the freewheeling decadence of the ‘70s, so there were plenty of lurid details to air in public. And neither Roxanne Pulitzer nor estranged husband Herbert Peter Pulitzer held back in their Palm Beach divorce trial.   After their marriage on Ja...
2022-02-2250 minShocking! Lurid! Tawdry! A History of American Scandals
Shocking! Lurid! Tawdry! A History of American ScandalsThat Time It Took a Massacre to Get an 8-Hour Work DayBoy, major corporations do not want to offer basic rights to employees. And proving that nothing is new, this week Kasey Howe looks back at the Ludlow Massacre of 1914, the result of some tense union negotiations around Colorado coal mines that ended with an entire tent city being burned to the ground by anti-strike militia. The deadliest strike in American history, the outcry eventually did result in some new legislation (including an 8-hour work day). We're not all giggles and gin, guys. Logo: Jessica Balaschak Music: Caveman of Los Angeles by Party Store Music --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters...
2022-02-1540 minShocking! Lurid! Tawdry! A History of American Scandals
Shocking! Lurid! Tawdry! A History of American ScandalsThat Time Charlie Chaplin's Divorce Got Sold Like PornographyLita Grey Chaplin’s greatest contribution to pop culture is not her two published memoirs or even her divorce complaint so scandalous that it was published and sold in 1927. Instead, it’s her name: Lita served as the root for Vladimir Nabokov’s Lolita, the most famous underage sex symbol this side of Brooke Shields in her Calvin Klein jeans.   Though she was divorced from Charlie Chaplin by 19 and lived until the age of 87, Lita’s life was inexorably bound to her first husband and the father of her two sons—even as Charlie himself pointedly never mentioned h...
2022-02-0830 minShocking! Lurid! Tawdry! A History of American Scandals
Shocking! Lurid! Tawdry! A History of American ScandalsThat Time Anthony Weiner's Sexts Destroyed a Few Political CareersHas anyone been so aptly named as Anthony Weiner? Of course, we only know just how apropos his name is because he kept his dick in his pants (or gray briefs) but couldn't keep his dick pics on his phone. Instead, he flung them far and wide, from his Twitter account (he was a U.S. Congressman at the time!) to ladies he met online as Carlos Danger to, ultimately, underage girls across the country. How did a Democratic political star flame out so thoroughly and so often? What does any of this have to do with...
2022-02-0139 minShocking! Lurid! Tawdry! A History of American Scandals
Shocking! Lurid! Tawdry! A History of American ScandalsThat Time Charles Lindbergh Managed to Make Us Forget a Few Key Personality TraitsSure, we all know Lucky Lindy's record-breaking flight across the Atlantic. And we all know the tragic story of his oldest son's kidnapping. But did you know that Lindbergh was both a eugenicist and a Nazi sympathizer, who accepted a medal from Hermann Göring shortly after Kristallnacht? And did you know that he had not on, not two, but three secret families in Europe, two of them with sisters? Probably not, because even the biographer who earned a Pulitzer Prize for his book on Charles Lindbergh didn't know about them.   So how did Lindbergh go from Am...
2021-12-2857 minShocking! Lurid! Tawdry! A History of American Scandals
Shocking! Lurid! Tawdry! A History of American ScandalsThat Time the Media Declared We're in a War on ChristmasWe hear it every year around the holidays: By saying "holidays," we're declaring war on Christmas! But this isn't just a free floating conspiracy theory—there was an actual event that launched a thousand flakes of infuriated spittle. How exactly are in a war on Christmas? And why? Well, that's both more complicated than you'd think and also not at all complicated. Kasey Howe walks Mark through why people think America is starting to hate the day of Jesus's birth. Logo: Jessica Balaschak Music: Caveman of Los Angeles by Party Store Music --- Support th...
2021-12-2140 minShocking! Lurid! Tawdry! A History of American Scandals
Shocking! Lurid! Tawdry! A History of American ScandalsThat Time Hilaria Baldwin Had a 'Decade-Long Grift'The date was December 21, 2020. That's when a Twitter user tweeted, "You have to admire Hilaria Baldwin's commitment to her decade long grift where she impersonates a Spanish person." And the floodgates opened. The former Hola Magazine cover star turned out to be... well, a white girl named Hillary from Boston. How did this last for 10 years? What was the fallout? And what possible explanation could there have been? Mark breaks the "nothing from the last 10 years" rule of the podcast to lead Kasey by the hand through the ups and downs and "Dios mio!" moments of the...
2021-12-1432 minShocking! Lurid! Tawdry! A History of American Scandals
Shocking! Lurid! Tawdry! A History of American ScandalsThat Time Nelson Rockefeller Had a Very Stressful 48 HoursWelcome a very special guest to the podcast this week, when Ellie MacPherson brings her zest, brio, and eye for the hilarious detail to the story of one governor of New York, his two wives, and 10 children.    Yes, it's the Nelson Rockefeller story, including a particularly rough 48 hours in the early '60s that found him possibly torpedoing his political career for love, and one of his children disappearing in Papua New Guinea.  If you love Ellie as much as we do, then be sure to check out her cabaret act Happy Birthday, Mr. President at...
2021-12-0734 minShocking! Lurid! Tawdry! A History of American Scandals
Shocking! Lurid! Tawdry! A History of American ScandalsThat Time Mary McCarthy Got Off 1 Good Zinger About Lillian HellmanWhen Mary McCarthy said of Lillian Hellman, "Every word she writes is a lie, including 'and' and 'the,'" Lillian Hellman laughed. Then she sued McCarthy for $2.2 million.    But that wasn't the end of it. This tossed off zinger on The Dick Cavett Show has resulted in a Broadway play with music, another stage play, and enough articles and think pieces to constitute a content farm. What is it about this lawsuit and these two writers that fascinates people more than 40 years later? Why are we still talking about Hellman v. McCarthy?   Well, because it's a d...
2021-11-3028 minShocking! Lurid! Tawdry! A History of American Scandals
Shocking! Lurid! Tawdry! A History of American ScandalsThat Time President Grover Cleveland Had a Secret SonAs "Let's go Brandon" has shown, Americans love a good eff you slogan when it comes to our politicians. But that didn't start at NASCAR. Let's go all the way back to the 1884 presidential election, when Grover Cleveland's disgusting past (involving sexual assault, committing the woman to an insane asylum, and a son) came back to bite him in the ass on the election trail as people started chanting, "Ma Ma Where's My Pa." Logo: Jessica Balaschak  Music: Caveman of Los Angeles by Party Store Music --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/p...
2021-11-2340 minShocking! Lurid! Tawdry! A History of American Scandals
Shocking! Lurid! Tawdry! A History of American ScandalsThat Time Brenda Frazier Became Famous for Having a Party"I got through Brenda Frazier, and I'm here." —Follies Brenda Frazier was born in 1921 and became one of the era’s infamous Poor Little Rich Girls. But the thing that set her apart from Doris Duke, Barbara Hutton, and Gloria Vanderbilt is that she didn’t have a successful second act. Even Gloria Vanderbilt had jeans! In fact, the only reason we still know Brenda Frazier is that she went to night clubs a lot and threw a party. Her debutante party was so extreme, so over the top, that she’s still a Name people r...
2021-11-1632 minShocking! Lurid! Tawdry! A History of American Scandals
Shocking! Lurid! Tawdry! A History of American ScandalsThat Time Linda Tripp and Monica Lewinsky Testified Before the Grand JuryWe sure went on a wild ride with American Crime Story: Impeachment, but the final leg of this trip was well with it. We got nuance; we got Acting; we got vulnerability. And we got a dramatization of Linda Tripp and Monica Lewinsky testifying—to VERY different results—before a grand jury. Join Kasey Howe & Mark Peikert as they wrap up the 10-episode season with their take on the final two installments, which find Monica and Linda handling their newfound fame very differently, and Paula Jones left to fend for herself by the people who used and then...
2021-11-1133 minShocking! Lurid! Tawdry! A History of American Scandals
Shocking! Lurid! Tawdry! A History of American ScandalsThat Time Boss Tweed Lost a Lot of Weight During a Lengthy Escape AttemptIf you know Boss Tweed today, it's probably from political cartoons from the 19th century about greed and graft in NYC politics. And you're right! But what you probably didn't learn is that Boss Tweed eventually went to jail—for a while.    Here, Kasey Howe recounts his checkered career, the high cost of chairs in in the 1800s, and why an escape by sea for a man who suffered from seasickness was never going to be an easy choice. Check out Thomas Nast's political cartoons here: https://www.thoughtco.com/thomas-nasts-campaign-against-boss-tweed-4039578 Logo: Jessica Bala...
2021-11-0938 minShocking! Lurid! Tawdry! A History of American Scandals
Shocking! Lurid! Tawdry! A History of American ScandalsThat Time Andrea Van Landingham Wrote a Book About Hollywood ScandalsWhen it comes to Hollywood scandals, L.A. native Andrea Van Landingham knows where the bodies are buried. Figuratively speaking! On this special episode of Shocking! Lurid! Tawdry! Mark is flying solo the author of Hollywood Horrors: Murders, Scandals, and Coverups From Tinseltown to dish on the stories that formed her, the ones she wasn't able to include, and why we're still fascinated by the lives of the stars whose movies we no longer watch.  Hollywood Horrors is out November 1 from Lyons Press. https://amzn.to/3At4pkq Logo: Jessica Balaschak Music: Caveman of Los Angeles by Party Store Music ...
2021-11-0230 minShocking! Lurid! Tawdry! A History of American Scandals
Shocking! Lurid! Tawdry! A History of American ScandalsThat Time an Entire Country Made Fun of a 20Something Monica Lewinsky... And Hillary Clinton pissed off Tammy Wynette. We're not gonna lie: Episodes 7 & 8 of Impeachment: American Crime Story (titled "The Assassination of Monica Lewinsky" and "Stand By Your Man") were tough to watch. But they're also the first time the show proved its need to exist. Giving Monica Lewinsky, Linda Tripp, and Hillary Clinton layers and nuances and showing how wide the chasm between their realities and the public's perception of them proved to be, these are powerhouse episodes of TV that all end in the same lesson: Men get to play semantics and smirk, while...
2021-10-2824 minShocking! Lurid! Tawdry! A History of American Scandals
Shocking! Lurid! Tawdry! A History of American ScandalsThat Time Truman Capote Published a Short Story and Ruined a Few LivesTruman Capote promised a masterpiece as his follow-up to In Cold Blood. Instead, Esquire readers got "La Côte Basque," a scandalous short story that dished the details of his best friend's most intimate secrets. Almost 50 years later, we're still gossiping about the fallout from that story—but only how it destroyed Truman Capote's life.   This week, Mark shares the collateral damage from that story, which was a lot bigger than Babe Paley never speaking to Capote again. Meet Ann Woodward, or, as Truman dubbed her in the story, "Annie Get Your Gun."    Logo: Jessica Balasc...
2021-10-2628 minShocking! Lurid! Tawdry! A History of American Scandals
Shocking! Lurid! Tawdry! A History of American ScandalsThat Time Gary Webb Published 1 Story and Watched His Career DestroyedIn this week's episode we learn that no good deed goes unpunished.    Gary Webb was just trying to do his job when the CIA started hassling him for no reason! (Well, maybe his series of articles on the CIA and crack cocaine had something to do with it?) Meanwhile the country could not be bothered because we only cared about a blowjob.    Logo: Jessica Balaschak Music: Caveman of Los Angeles by Party Store Music --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/american-scandals/support
2021-10-1930 minShocking! Lurid! Tawdry! A History of American Scandals
Shocking! Lurid! Tawdry! A History of American ScandalsThat Time Monica Lewinsky Went to the Mall With Linda TrippMonica knows her malls, but she didn't see the trap Linda Tripp set for her in Pentagon City. She does spot a nice wine decanter though!   That's right, we're at the interrogation portion of Monica's story, with special appearances from her mom, Ann Coulter, and 6 bottles of Champagne. What do you think Linda bought at Bath and Bodyworks? What show did Monica's grandmother see that night? And what will Monica do now?  None of those questions are answered, but we're going to keep asking anyway!   Logo: Jessica Balaschak Music: Caveman of Los Angeles by Par...
2021-10-1324 minShocking! Lurid! Tawdry! A History of American Scandals
Shocking! Lurid! Tawdry! A History of American ScandalsThat Time Grace Metalious Pissed Off Her Entire Town By Publishing Peyton PlaceThe book that quickly outsold Gone With the Wind has one of the most famous opening lines in literature: "Indian summer is like a woman. Ripe, hotly passionate, but fickle, she comes and goes as she pleases so that one is never sure whether she will come at all, nor for how long she will stay."   As it turns out, Indian summer was a lot like the woman behind those words. Grace Metalious landed into the national consciousness with the subtlety of an atom bomb upon publication of her first novel, Peyton Place, in 1956. What we take f...
2021-10-1239 minShocking! Lurid! Tawdry! A History of American Scandals
Shocking! Lurid! Tawdry! A History of American ScandalsThat Time Gwen Shamblin Invented Portion Control and a New ChurchThere's a fad diet. There's Christianity used as a weapon. There's a murder conviction. And there's big hair. Really big hair.  That's just three episodes of HBO Max's new documentary series The Way Down, about Gwen Shamblin, her Christian diet The Weigh Down, and the church she founded, the Remnant Fellowship. And somehow, Kasey Howe and Mark Peikert don't think three episodes is enough!  Join them as they discuss the brand-new show, it's shocking revelations, and just why Gwen's ethos is so singularly Southern.   Logo: Jessica Balaschak usic: Caveman of Los Angeles by Party Sto...
2021-10-0829 minShocking! Lurid! Tawdry! A History of American Scandals
Shocking! Lurid! Tawdry! A History of American ScandalsThat Time Linda Tripp Bought a Tape RecorderWe're finally taping! At least, Linda Tripp is. She thinks it's fine, though. (It's not.) Monica's just excited that Bill is paying attention to her. (Sometimes.) But first we have to sit through an entire episode of Monica talking about Bill and micro analyzing his silence. An example she unfortunately does not follow herself.   Join Kasey Howe and Mark Peikert as they go on a magical holiday journey with these two gal pals (and Paula Jones, who is abruptly remembered just in time for Episode 5) and wonder just what the rest of Linda's Christmas village story could b...
2021-10-0730 minShocking! Lurid! Tawdry! A History of American Scandals
Shocking! Lurid! Tawdry! A History of American ScandalsThat Time Robert Potter Castrated 2 Men and Got Re-Elected to CongressThanks to Forget the Alamo, we have a clearer idea of the kind of men who fought for Texas independence... and guys? They weren't great. So not great, in fact, that Robert Potter is just a footnote in that book, but he's worth an entire episode's discussion for us. After hogtieing and castrating two men, he was re-elected to Congress—and that's when things take a turn. But he was a white man in the 19th-century so don't worry! He's buried in the Texas State Cemetery and has a county in the Panhandle named after him. If yo...
2021-10-0529 minShocking! Lurid! Tawdry! A History of American Scandals
Shocking! Lurid! Tawdry! A History of American ScandalsThat Time J.B. Watson Ruined Psychiatry, Advertising, and Office CultureTurns out, we have one guy to blame for a lot!   In addition to writing a child-rearing book positing that all children should be shuttled among different families until they came of age and they should never be touched except perhaps a pat on the head for a job particularly well done, John Watson invented behaviorism; the coffee break; fear-based marketing; and the sense that all employees should subjugate their lives for their companies.   He was also at the center of a remarkable divorce, one that found his wife turning into a regular Nancy Drew an...
2021-09-2836 minShocking! Lurid! Tawdry! A History of American Scandals
Shocking! Lurid! Tawdry! A History of American ScandalsSpecial Bonus Episode: When Monica Lewinsky Waited by the Phone. And Waited. And Waited.Are we supposed to dislike Monica Lewinsky?   Shocking! Lurid! Tawdry! co-hosts Kasey Howe and Mark Peikert are back after a week of self-care, which they promptly throw away by watching two episodes of Impeachment back to back. Is Linda Tripp supposed to be the most human character? Is Paula Jones supposed to be this pathetic? Did Monica really always sit forlornly in her darkened apartment, without even bothering to turn the TV on? And is that how Matt Drudge really talks?   Join Kasey and Mark as they trudge through two more hours of this televised Cl...
2021-09-2428 minShocking! Lurid! Tawdry! A History of American Scandals
Shocking! Lurid! Tawdry! A History of American ScandalsThat Time Arnold Schwarzenegger Broke His Own Scandalous Affair With the NannyStuff! --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/american-scandals/support
2021-09-2135 minShocking! Lurid! Tawdry! A History of American Scandals
Shocking! Lurid! Tawdry! A History of American Scandals"They Say, 'In God We Trust,' But It Is Written on a Dollar"Eunice Pringle saw the man accused of sexually assaulting her, vaudeville and movie impressario Alexander Pantages, go to prison—and then Jerry Giesler jumped in and they had a retrial with a predominately male jury this time. Guess what? He was acquitted! Along the way, Pantages' wife ends up convicted of a crime in the same courtroom, rumors swirl that Pringle died and left a deathbed confession admitting that Joseph P. Kennedy put her up to it, and Pringle releases one of the all-time great statements ever uttered when told that Pantages's conviction was overturned. Ju...
2021-09-1431 minShocking! Lurid! Tawdry! A History of American Scandals
Shocking! Lurid! Tawdry! A History of American ScandalsSpecial Bonus Episode: That Time Linda Tripp Met Monica LewinskyKasey Howe and Mark Peikert made one promise when they launched their podcast dedicated to American scandals: They wouldn't cover Bill Clinton and Monica Lewinsky. But if someone else does... Besides, that sweet sweet SEO is there, ripe for the plucking!   So the Shocking! Lurid! Tawdry! co-hosts put on their GAP best, hit pause on an episode of Friends, and time traveled back to Clintonian America for a special miniseries dedicated to the limited series. And just how are the women at the scandals' center—Linda Tripp, Paula Jones, and Lewinsky—faring in the first episode? About what...
2021-09-0835 minShocking! Lurid! Tawdry! A History of American Scandals
Shocking! Lurid! Tawdry! A History of American ScandalsThat Time a Secret Service Guy Didn't Have Enough Money to Pay His Sex Worker in CartagenaWhat the Secret Service did in Cartagena didn’t stay so secret after they didn't pay for services rendered.  In this episode, we travel back to the quieter days of the Obama Administration. You may remember it as a not particularly scandalous administration and yet! Join us for some PSAs on how to responsibly hire sex workers, while it's Mark's turn to struggle with his audio. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/american-scandals/support
2021-09-0739 minShocking! Lurid! Tawdry! A History of American Scandals
Shocking! Lurid! Tawdry! A History of American ScandalsThat Time Lana Turner Watched Her Teen Daughter Stab Her Gangster Boyfriend on Good FridayThe glamour goddess saw her reputation get a good tawdry tarnishing when her 14-year-old daughter killed her abusive 32-year-old lover with a single stab. How did Lana Turner end up watching a man die in her pink bedroom? How did her daughter, Cheryl Crane, end up trying to protect her mother? And did Johnny Stompanato know that he was buying his own murder weapon when he helped Lana pick out that set of carving knives a week prior? Mark digs deep into one of Hollywood's most shocking scandals, one that can best be summed up...
2021-08-3134 minShocking! Lurid! Tawdry! A History of American Scandals
Shocking! Lurid! Tawdry! A History of American ScandalsThat Time D.C. Wives Hated Peggy Eaton So Much Andrew Jackson Had to Fire His CabinetPeggy Eaton was just trying to be a good housewife, but the women of D.C. were not going to let her do it in peace! During the Andrew Jackson administration, not much else was going on, so one wife deemed unfit could take down a whole cabinet! (Maybe you've heard of Peggy because you're a big fan of the Joan Crawford picture The Gorgeous Hussy?) And we learn the fastest way to lose a tip as far as Mark is concerned. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/american-scandals/support
2021-08-2437 minShocking! Lurid! Tawdry! A History of American Scandals
Shocking! Lurid! Tawdry! A History of American ScandalsThat Time Geraldo Rivera Published a Salacious Memoir and Almost Instantly Regretted ItBefore Geraldo was throwing punches and chairs at neo Nazis on his daytime talk show, he was a respected journalist and noted Horny Man. And his 1991 memoir Exposing Myself dedicated possibly more time to the latter. Join Kasey as Mark leads her down a wild hedonistic path from Al Capone's vault to a Bette Midler interview with Barbara Walters to a shocking third-act twist when Rivera pens a new afterward for the paperback edition, addressing the uproar he caused by including so many stories about sex on the job. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod...
2021-08-1734 minShocking! Lurid! Tawdry! A History of American Scandals
Shocking! Lurid! Tawdry! A History of American ScandalsThat Time Gary Hart and Donna Rice Posed for 1 Innocent Photo and Destroyed His CandidacyOl' Monkey Businessman and presidential hopeful Gary Hart teaches us what a sheltered childhood will do to you. It will all come out one day. Another rising star in politics burns out before our very eyes when this philandering presidential candidate gets caught with photo evidence of his monkey business. Join us as we discuss the dos' and mostly don’ts of 1980s politics, the upkeep of yachts, the casual arrogance of straight white men, and what Donna Rice is like. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/american-scandals/support
2021-08-1039 minShocking! Lurid! Tawdry! A History of American Scandals
Shocking! Lurid! Tawdry! A History of American ScandalsThat Time Christina Crawford Pissed Off Old Hollywood and Film Fans With Mommie DearestThe Hype was never meant to be a biography of a movie star. But when Christina Crawford's memoir of a childhood spent battling her controlling mother, Joan Crawford, was published as Mommie Dearest in 1978, the reaction was decidedly not that. From having to defend her account of her childhood to friends of her adopted mother (not to mention interviewers and fans) to the stroke that people whispered was actually a nervous breakdown precipitated by the disastrous film adaptation, this is the story how the legend of Joan Crawford almost ruined Christina's life... a second time. --- Support this...
2021-08-0343 minShocking! Lurid! Tawdry! A History of American Scandals
Shocking! Lurid! Tawdry! A History of American ScandalsThat Time Someone Finally Held Senator Joseph McCarthy Accountable for His Lazy LiesHow unoriginal. Joseph McCarthy might have been the laziest person who ruined over 600 lives. Playing off of already established fears of Cold War America, he quickly brought himself into the Senate spotlight of the Senate and rode McCarthyism until hubris and some horny underlings got the best of him. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/american-scandals/support
2021-07-271h 02Shocking! Lurid! Tawdry! A History of American Scandals
Shocking! Lurid! Tawdry! A History of American ScandalsThat Time Valerie Harper Got Fired From Her Own Sitcom, Smeared in the Press, and Took It All to CourtValerie Harper struck a blow for performers everywhere with her much-publicized court battle over her abrupt firing from the NBC sitcom Valerie. She’s remembered as a hero now, but at the time she was in a terrifying position just a few years after Farrah Fawcett and Suzanne Somers saw their careers implode. This is what happened, and how we ended up watching Sandy Duncan in The Hogan Family reruns. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/american-scandals/support
2021-07-2039 minShocking! Lurid! Tawdry! A History of American Scandals
Shocking! Lurid! Tawdry! A History of American ScandalsThat Time Gary Condit Waited 11 Weeks to Mention He Knew Missing Person Chandra LevyCalifornia congressman Gary Condit was never a suspect, but 11 weeks of saying nothing to the police after your mistress goes missing is not cool any way you slice it. This is the non-true crime look at the disappearance of Chandra Levy and how, in a post Bill and Monica world, the personal lives of politicians could be their undoing. Or not! --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/american-scandals/support
2021-07-1342 minShocking! Lurid! Tawdry! A History of American Scandals
Shocking! Lurid! Tawdry! A History of American ScandalsThat Time Rex Harrison Was So Sexy Women Couldn't Get Enough of His Magic DDr. Doolittle apparently had some magic d, too—because Rex Harrison cut a memorably wide swathe through the leading ladies of stage and film. Today we look at three of them who met tragic ends involving Professor Higgins himself: Carole Landis, Kay Kendall, and Rachel Roberts. And Mark gushes over the fabulous Lili Palmer, who held it together remarkably well. Until she didn’t. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/american-scandals/support
2021-07-0631 minShocking! Lurid! Tawdry! A History of American Scandals
Shocking! Lurid! Tawdry! A History of American ScandalsThat Time First Lady Edith Wilson Staged a Coup and Took Over the Unite States Government While Woodrow Wilson RecuperatedWoodrow Wilson was attempting to create the League of Nations in 1919 when he suffered a massive stroke. His wife, Edith, saw no need to slow down the business of the presidency. So she locked the doors and just kept on keeping on. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/american-scandals/support
2021-06-2931 minShocking! Lurid! Tawdry! A History of American Scandals
Shocking! Lurid! Tawdry! A History of American ScandalsThat Time Tennis Legend Big Bill Tilden Destroyed His Legacy by Being Caught With a Minor (Twice)The greatest tennis player who ever lived has no monument to his achievements—because in addition to transforming the game during the 1920s and ‘30s, Bill Tilden also spent a lot of time being caught with underage boys. And with the one-two punch of homosexuality and penchant for minors, his reputation circled down the drain, even as people still clamor for his reinstatement. But finally—a sexual predator even Jerry Giesler wouldn’t defend! --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/american-scandals/support
2021-06-2232 minShocking! Lurid! Tawdry! A History of American Scandals
Shocking! Lurid! Tawdry! A History of American ScandalsThat Time President Ulysses S. Grant Accidentally Allowed the Corruption of His Treasury Department and a Stock Market CrashOur 18th president may have been a great general in the Civil War, but running a whole country wasn’t really his jam. With the wool pulled over the eyes of Ulysses S. Grant, two men were able to corrupt the Treasury department and corner the gold market, bringing an already struggling America to its knees in the fall of 1869. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/american-scandals/support
2021-06-1535 minShocking! Lurid! Tawdry! A History of American Scandals
Shocking! Lurid! Tawdry! A History of American ScandalsThat Time Joan Bennett Watched Husband Walter Wanger Shoot Her Agent in the GroinJoan Bennett saw her career fizzle in the early ‘50s. Maybe it’s because she was getting older in a town that has never prized experience over beauty in its female stars. Or maybe it’s because she watched her husband shoot her agent in the groin outside the Beverly Hills police station a few weeks before Christmas. The two men recovered—nay thrived!—but Joan had the great final word on the whole debacle. Featuring guest appearances by an adulterous Ingrid Bergman and a vicious Hedda Hopper! --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/american-s...
2021-06-0837 minShocking! Lurid! Tawdry! A History of American Scandals
Shocking! Lurid! Tawdry! A History of American ScandalsThat Time Eliot Spitzer Went From Sheriff of Wall Street to Governor of New York to Client 9New York Governor Eliot Spitzer was on many lists and it turns out that Client 9 might not have been the worst one! This episode takes us to the Empire State to cover how Spitzer went from the Sheriff of Wall Street to resigning in disgrace... and we uncover some uncanny similarities to today. Plus, a segment we like to call “Straight White Men Write Headlines about Sex.” Client 9 Documentary  --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/american-scandals/support
2021-06-0131 minShocking! Lurid! Tawdry! A History of American Scandals
Shocking! Lurid! Tawdry! A History of American ScandalsThat Time Pia Zadora Won a Golden Globe and Became an Instant Industry JokeHer 1982 Golden Globe win gets its own subheading on the awards’ Wikipedia page—but how much did Pia Zadora’s then husband spend on her trophy? As it turns out… well, there’s a lot more scandal here than what everyone thinks of when they refer to poor Pia. Unless they’re Sally Field, caught whispering, “Pia who?” From Pia’s incest-themed movie to Tom Cruise standing up against the HFPA’s racist misogyny as a proud Scientologist, let’s get into the seedy side of awards and virtue signaling. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/american-scan
2021-05-2538 minShocking! Lurid! Tawdry! A History of American Scandals
Shocking! Lurid! Tawdry! A History of American ScandalsThat Time Richard Nixon's White House Was So Corrupt Vice President Spiro Agnew Went Down Unrelated to WatergateSpiro Agnew was perhaps the biggest crisis for democracy during Watergate—but all anyone (dimly) remembers is that he didn’t pay his taxes. But as we learn, some vice presidents have no compunction about continuing their graft operations from the White House, and some men facing federal charges become real blabber mouths. And finally we answer the question: Who is the biggest loser? Bag Man Podcast  --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/american-scandals/support
2021-05-1851 minShocking! Lurid! Tawdry! A History of American Scandals
Shocking! Lurid! Tawdry! A History of American ScandalsThat Time an Oleomargarine Heir Dabbled in Cafe Society Pimping Until His Trust Fund Could Kick InWhat’s a trust fund baby to do when his trust fund isn’t accessible yet? Why, coerce some ladies into prostitution to pay his bills, of course! Welcome to the twilight of Manhattan’s Café Society, where being rich meant being famous in the papers. And enter Mickey Jelke, an oleomargarine heir who went on trial twice. Along the way we learn about why Peter Pan collars had a brief moment of being considered sexy, why learning Joyce Kilmer’s “Trees” was once considered a suitable punishment by a judge, and the war between butter and margarine. Sources: ht...
2021-05-1141 minShocking! Lurid! Tawdry! A History of American Scandals
Shocking! Lurid! Tawdry! A History of American ScandalsThat Time D.C. Lobbyist Craig J. Spence Became Linked to a Male Prostitution Ring and Then Ended Up DeadA Washington lobbyist ends up dead while a male escort entrepreneur is jailed upon Greta Van Susteren’s advice. Craig J. Spence is found dead in his hotel room after being linked to a male prostitution ring, and the FBI is not naming names… except for his. We learn how not to get caught swiping a credit card and the only person who would actually spend $20,000 a month on mortuary services. Sources https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1989/07/18/the-shadow-world-of-craig-spence/2837e91e-49ce-4121-9416-8e0c7a2debf6/ https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/poli...
2021-05-0448 minShocking! Lurid! Tawdry! A History of American Scandals
Shocking! Lurid! Tawdry! A History of American ScandalsWelcome to Shocking! Lurid! Tawdry! A History of American ScandalsYou’re listening to Shocking! Lurid! Tawdry! A History of American Scandals. Every Tuesday  Kasey Howe and Mark Peikert scrabble through the graveyards of forgotten front-page news to unearth the skeletons of bad behavior, stories that consumed the country and then faded into history, some more deservedly than others. But not on our watch! Join the fray as Kasey and Mark remember what America forgot. Logo: Jessica Balaschak Music: Caveman of Los Angeles by Party Store Music --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/american-scandals/support
2021-04-2701 min